EDITORIAL: Doctor shortage is a nationwide problem that must be addressed

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Decades ago, bright young people who were considering future careers knew becoming a physician would be a difficult academic challenge but that the profession would be lucrative once the schooling requirement was achieved.

Medicare and health insurance are among economic circumstances that have changed the medical field over the years, and doctors today tend not to be as wealthy as doctors in the past were. For that and other reasons, our nation is facing a doctor shortage.

Becoming a medical doctor requires a requirement for high academic achievement that discourages a significant percentage of potential students before they ever fill out a medical school application form.

And it demands a significant time commitment that includes four years of undergraduate study, four years of medical school plus years of residencies.

If the financial rewards are not as gainful as they used to be, it's understandable some potential physicians may not be willing to invest a significant number of years of their lives, acquire large student loan burdens and commit the long hours and hard work that are necessary to become doctors.

America's population is getting larger and living longer, and not enough doctors are being produced to meet the needs of the populace.

The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts there will be a shortage of 46,000 to 90,000 physicians by 2025, according to Morris News Service.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants already help fill the gaps in primary care coverage and will continue to do so in the future, but a physician shortage will bring difficulties, especially in specialties where the number of doctors is already beginning to grow thin compared to the needs.

The Association of American Medical Colleges recognized the doctor shortage was looming and began encouraging in 2006 a 30 percent increase in medical school enrollment.

States and medical schools have cooperated, and the AAMC announced the 30 percent goal should be close to achievement by 2019.

The problem is it still won't keep up with the need for doctors. The combination of population growth and the number of doctors who are retiring each year keep the number of doctors that will be needed high.

But even if the 30 percent goal hasn't completely solved the problem, it has improved it, and that's encouraging.

The Texas Medical Association reports the state has fewer internal medicine doctors than needed, and specialists currently in the field are taking a lead in addressing the problem.

Internists are recruiting medical school students for the 2016 General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptorship Program, which is a mentorship program that matches medical students interested in the field with internal medicine specialists.

The student interest in internal medicine has grown because of it. The Texas Legislature helped this year by restoring funding to the program that had been cut in 2011.

Identifying a problem is a necessary step toward solving it, and the doctor shortage has been defined.

By working together, leaders in the medical field, along with legislators and medical schools, can address a potential problem in which every person in our nation has a stake.